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Ry Cooder and V.M. Bhatt A Meeting by the River...

July 22, 1993|By Peter Margasak.

Ry Cooder and V.M. Bhatt

A Meeting by the River (Water Lily Acoustics) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)

Whether treating heavily blues-inflected material, Okinawan pop or straight Tex-Mex, Ry Cooder's broad tastes have yielded some compelling fusions. On this beautifully recorded album, Cooder is joined by India's V.M. Bhatt, who plays the Mohan vina, much like a slide guitar, but with steel rods along the neck to provide the drone essential to Indian music. The blend of disparate cultures in this casual, largely improvised setting reveals a rare, often transcendental beauty. Tastefully abetted by tabla and dumbek, Cooder's arresting, bluesy bottleneck guitar playing and Bhatt's haunting, fluid lines gently and intuitively reach toward a finely meshed common ground.